R
Rene Ritchie
There are rumors of a Retina MacBook Air, of a 4K iMac or 4K Thunderbolt 2 Display, we're still waiting on the Haswell Mac mini and some even hold-to-hope for an iOS MacBook Air that can detach into an iPad Air. So far this year Apple has only done minor processor bumps and price cuts to their existing Mac lineup. But what happens when we get whatever is coming next? That's why we asked the question — What's your next dream Mac?. Well, here's what you answered!
Turns out, as of publication time, the largest number of you wanted a convertible MacBook Air/iPad Air combo device — something that likely only makes Microsoft sadder about the lack of Surface sales. (Or maybe they simply learned that such devices currently work better in our dreams than in reality?). With several thousand of you voting, here's the breakdown:
Dozens of you took the time to elaborate on your votes as well. For the ones who want the transformable MacBook Air/iPad Air, good news — you can pretty much have that today with the existing iPad Air and a good keyboard case. Though that clearly won't satisfy everyone:
I'm still holding out for my MacBook / iPad hybrid.
But it has to be able to do everything I want it to do. I need the full *nix-based OS X when I need it, and I want iOS when I want it. 
And hell, if I can run iOS apps inside OS X when it's in OS X mode that would be pretty fantastic Apple.
I am willing to pay a fair (near what the combined price for a MacBook / iPad is) for this magical device filled with rainbows and unicorns.
The Retina MacBook Air still fascinates a large amount of people as well, even if expectations can run too high at times:
I honestly think a MacBook Air with an IPS screen, slightly better graphics, support for dual monitors and that doesn't overheat would be a pretty perfect computer. The Air gets way too hot when gaming. I hate the viewing angles but don't mind the resolution of the screen. The graphics are descent but no where near dedicated. I don't expect integrated to be as good but just a little closer would be nice. And I hate only being able to run one external monitor. An extra Thunderbolt port or HDMI/DVI port would be such a huge deal for me.
If all of these things were true I could probably get rid of my desktop altogether.
Not many seemed into the idea of 4K iMacs or displays, but some did want them for detailed graphics work:
'd rather a iMac 4K display cause I would like to use it to see every detail on my drawings 3D modeling etc. though some kind of MacBook/iPad hybrid (not quite Air/iPad Air but like Pro/iPad) but that maybe asking a lot
Others feel 4K from Apple isn't likely anytime soon:
It's tricky. Looking at the panel market, high quality 4k panels (and a 2x 27" iMac or TB display would be even more than 4k) still go for more than $2.3k, and that's only the panel. The cheaper 4k displays all compromise on something (gamut, refresh rate, viewing angles etc.). So, we look at either something extremely expensive, or something below current standards. I guess the device everybody would want (somewhat affordable and high quality) is still not in the cards there. A Retina Air with acceptable battery life will have to wait because of Intel...
Somehow the recent MBA and MBP price cuts / spec improvements make me believe that we won't see much in terms of Macs for most of the rest of the year.
The Mac mini is still a favorite, desperately so:
Mac Mini!!!!! Where are you????
I'm good with the current size and shape. Don't mess with that because there are those who have rack mount solutions in place for these as they are used as servers.
- Add PCIe capability to it (that's fine), but I can continue to live with SATA-III SSD.
- I actually use BOTH drive bays currently in my 2011 model, but having two PCIe slots would be a performance boost (awesome).
- A better graphics chipset option so that we can play games at higher frame rates and resolutions (AMD or NVidia) which would also support UHD.
- Latest Intel processors
- Support for 32gb ram or 64 (for those folks who need this) << Makes for a great DB server
On a "like to have" note. Perhaps offer it in two colors (same as iPod Classic: Black or Silver).
And some even want a Mac mini maxi:
What about a "Mac Medium"?! Mac Pro chassis, mobo/daughter boards, "thermal core" & connections but with i7 instead of Xeon & desktop GPUs instead of workstation? I would also accept "classic" SATA SSD & non-ECC ram.
As long as the next Mac Mini checks off that wishlist I'll be happy. It would be nice if the soon to be announced Mac Mini had broadwell, but that's not Apple's fault.
Either way, I voted for Mac Mini. My 2010 Mac Mini is really hurting these days, and it's sole purpose in life is iPhoto & iTunes. (Upgraded RAM & SSD)
My guess remains we'll see the Retina MacBook Air-style machine when Broadwell materializes. I'm not sure what the holdup is with the Haswell Mac mini, but I'm waiting just like everyone else. 4K will come when panel cost and yield fit within Apple's requirements. Whether that means they ship first in the iMac, as usual, or Apple switches things up and goes for Thunderbolt 2 Display for premium Mac Pro customers first is harder to say.
As for hybrid iOS/OS X machines, 5 or 10 years from now that'll seem like an old-fashioned idea, won't it?
If you haven't voted yet, go vote now and check out the other comments while you're there. Then let me know — is there a Mac, any Mac, that if Apple announced it tomorrow you'd order it immediately?
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